The UPEI Suh, Friday; Oct. 77, I977. Page 18 
     
    
   
   
    
     *WHAT'IS IT? 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Engineering Dept. 
     
     are now displaying 
     
     several models in the 
     
     exhibition area in the 
     
     Robertson Library. 
     
    

    
     The models seen there 
     
     are examples of Syn— 
     
     ergy. Synergy is de‘ 
     
     fined by Buckminster ' 
     
     Fuller as "The behav- 
     
     ior of whole systems, 
     
     unpredicted by know— 
     
     ledge of the compon— 
     
     ent parts or of any 
     
     subaSSembly of com— 
     
     ponents". 
     
    

    
     -No other word has 
     
     that meaning and the 
     
    
   
   
    
     and 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Order 
     
    
   
   
    
     and get 
     
    
   
   
    
     W 
     
     fact that most people 
     
     do not know the word 
     
     means that most people 
     
     do not know you can 
     
     get more out of a sys- 
     
     tem than you put into 
     
     it. Take for example 
     
     a chain. The links 
     
     might be of iron, 
     
     which has a tensile 
     
     strength of 60,000 lbs, 
     
     or chrome at 70,000 
     
     lbs, or nickel at 
     
     80,000. (Manganese 
     
     and carbon, etc. at 
     
     50,000 lbs.) 
     
    

    
     If we make a chain 
     
     it will be no stronger 
     
    
   
   
    
     Wha-t 'everyuniversity -. 
     
     needs is a-quarterha-ck 
     
    
   
   
    
     UPEI can get 
     
     at 
     
     McDonald’s 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     at M cDonaId"s‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     a quarterback 
     
    
   
   
    
     from yaur dollar 
     
    
   
   
    
     ingredient, 
     
    
   
   
    
     T'svuenev.l 
     
    
   
   
    
     than its weakest link 
     
     which is 50,000 lbs. 
     
    

    
     If we melt them to— 
     
     gether to form a rod, 
     
     common sense expects 
     
     that the strongest 
     
     nickel, 
     
     will be weakened by 
     
     admixture of the others 
     
     However, common sense " 
     
     is wrong. It is far 
     
     stronger than the sum 
     
     and even stronger‘Still 
     
     than the average. For 
     
     wstainless" chrome— 
     
     nickel steel castings 
     
     can be made with a 
     
     tensile strength of 
     
    
   
   
    
     un- an: 
     
    
   
   
    
     “kdohaflfixyow 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     aless, 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     350,000 lbs. 
     
     inch. 
     
    

    
     Why can a 300—lb man 
     
     ride a bicycle whose , 
     
     wheels are spoked with 
     
     wires a child can bend? 
     
     The strength is in the 
     
    
   
   
    
     per square 
     
    
   
   
    
     system. The wires' 
     
     iensile strength sup— 
     
     ports the load while 
     
     putting no force at all 
     
     On their susceptibility 
     
     to crumpling. 
     
    

    
     Does an inflammable 
     
     metal, sodium, and a 
     
     poisonous gas, chlorine, 
     
     predict common salt? 
     
     This is an example of 
     
     molecules combining 
     
     synergetically.’ 
     
    

    
     The model of the 
     
     Tensegrity Sphere in 
     
     the library is about as 
     
     dramatic an example of 
     
     synergy as we are likely 
     
     to find. Pick it up. 
     
     Squeeze it. It yields 
     
     like a rubber ball, and 
     
     pops out again. An 
     
     energetic squeezer would 
     
     perhaps break-something, 
     
     a wire...a stick. But 
     
     the system remains the 
     
     same. Stronger‘sticks- 
     
     of steel tubing or box 
     
     steel, and alloy wires 
     
     would prevent that. The 
     
     U;S.‘Patent #3;O63,521 
     
     remarks that a fine 
     
     tensegrity‘mesh—work 
     
    
   
   
    
     gcould cover whole cities. 
     
    
   
   
    
     When examining the 
     
     models, try to see the 
     
     system, not the wooden 
     
     sticks.< It is the 
     
     system which is strong. 
     
     The lone stick is use— 
     
     but the incorpor— 
     
     ation of the synergetic 
     
     system is what will > 
     
     support the bridges;— 
     
     the buildings—-the 
     
     structures of the future-